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I generally consider Sam Adams to be a good (not great), quality brewer. And while I was at first reluctant to give them a try, I have found many "fruity" beers that I find quite enjoyable. But Sam's Cherry Wheat was a major disappointment. The dominant, overpowering flavor was, to me, far too reminiscent of cherry cough syrup. And not in a good way. As cough syrup, a cherry cough syrup flavor is fine. Mixed with beer, not so much. A rare beer that to me was undrinkable. I tried one from a six-pack, didn't finish it, and gave the remaining five away.

Had in a bottle long before I was "into" craft beer. Had it again on tap once I entered the craft realm. Pours a wheaty, sunburst orange color, considerably hazy and basically perfectly opaque in the mid-section of the brew. Slightly off-white head is sparkly and foamy and recedes relatively quick leaving some mild lacing behind. The aroma is cherry. That's it. That's all. Just cherries. I mean, I could sit here and tell you "it has some wheat in the background", because it does, but you have to search so hard for it beneath the cherry blanket that by that point it isn't worth it anymore. The cherries smell sweet, tart, and actually a little medicinally cloying. Weird combination, right? I can't decide if this aroma is good or bad - but the fact that I must ask myself that question tells me it's probably the latter.

It hits my palate, medium bodied and heavily carbonated. And that's where shit hits the fan. WOW, the cherry presence is not only overwhelming, but it's basically the only thing you can taste. And as mentioned for the aroma, it's not a very "good" cherry perspective. Hints of the profile taste natural and real - some tartness and sweetness that couldn't be mistaken for anything but fresh cherries. However, it's like the brewers decided that it wasn't enough, and they took it a step further and added a butt-load of extra, artificial cherry flavor to push the flavor envelope of the max. Chalky, medicinal, vitamin-like. It's like, tart cherry cough syrup. Or a sweeter version of a cherry flavored Flintstones vitamin. Aftertaste has a slaughtered wheat profile, still majorly enveloped by the cherry onslaught.

Buuuh. Save yourself the trouble with this one. The cherry is just way too overdone and overpowering, nearly to the point of being undrinkable. And it's not the "fruit-lambic" kind of cherry. It's more of a "take your medicine" kind of cherry. Definitely not for me.

This was a beer that I believe I first had back in the late 90s, and it was the first to make me realize that a beer can have an accented flavor. Bass had been my beer at the time, but I also liked the occasional Samuel Adams. The one thing about the beer that I love is its cherry aroma. The taste is solid but nothing special, and the feel is average at best. Still, I do like this beer.
This is the first time I've had this beer in some time, and it's a definite guilty pleasure.
It's basically as close as you can get to straddling a beer and a soda, yet it works for me.

Medium to thick white and frothy head; hazy golden/honey body. Lots of bubbles. The head maintains a layer and leaves nice lacing.

Biscuity grain, grassiness, and a strong backbone of sweet, cocktail cherries. Yeast. It has character.

Flavor: mild; round grain; a hint of sour dough; a hint of the cherries discovered in the aroma, but not as pronounced.

Mouthfeel/finish: medium, carbonated; crisp, dry, tangy.

Overall: this is one of the exemplary flavored beers on the market today. I find this beer to be adequately flavored but not overly sweet nor does it suffer the detriment of coming across as artificial and disingenuous. This is a fine beer, I will certainly buy it again, and I highly suggest it to anyone who likes flavored beer.

12 ounce bottle into signature pint glass, best before 6/2015. Pours lightly hazy golden orange color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the head. Aromas of black cherry, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light honey, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance of black cherry and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of black cherry, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light honey, and herbal/grassy earthiness. Minimal earthy bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of black cherry, wheat, cracker, biscuit, light honey, and herbal/grassy earthiness on the finish for a short bit. Good balance and robustness of black cherry and bready malt flavors; with zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth and lightly creamy/bready mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with zero warming present after the finish as expected of 5.3%. Overall this is a good fruit wheat beer. All around good balance and robustness of black cherry and bready malt flavors; and very smooth to drink. A nicely enjoyable offering.

Cherry in front. Cherry pie cherries and light beer background. I happen to like fruit beer because the summer beers are too light and empty in flavor so if it's summer I would go for this. Look- Nothing impressive in its pale wheat beer appearance nothing to think the cherry is real. Smell- Cherry pie filling, nothing else. Taste-dry cherry pie feeling on a light beer paddleboard. Feel-dry mouth, cherry beverage like sweetened cherries. Overall cherry is my go to fruit beer thus my higher rating but I always rate cherry beers to Founders Cerise and this one falls short. I also rate these beers on price to yum scale and this one is not as good to me in the fruit beer column as Oberon, Upland Wheat, or #9 pale or Curious Traveler Lemon Shandy in that grouping or the summer easy to find locally group. But would rate above purple haze or Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. Also I am not a fan of orange, apple or raspberry fruit beers.

Part of me is relieved Sam Adams Cherry Wheat doesn't have a spot of red - fruit beers that take on too much of the colour of their fruits tend to be contrived and superficial. That said, this dull, semi-clouded, honey golden appearance doesn't exactly excite the senses. And the lack of head is concerning, especially for something with "wheat" in the name.

Fruit can be frustrating to brew with; because it's comprised mainly of water and sugar, it's difficult to preserve those fresh, sweet flavours post-fermentation. It requires huge amounts (which, on a scale like that of Boston Beer Co., means a lot of money). Hence, a lot of producers (this one included) opt to supplement natural fruit with "natural flavors".

It's obvious. The aroma resembles that of a maraschino cherry jar. It's not even fruit juice - it's maraschino cherry juice. It smells preserved, sweetened, syrupy, even a little briny and has a bright, almost grenadine-like red fruit flavour that is more at home in a Shirley Temple than an American Wheat Ale. There's a hint of blanched almonds and powdered sugar too.

The flavour is equally shallow, offering only the most superficial fruit flavour, something resembling a cough lozenge or bar mix. Although tart cherries are cited on the label, the use of honey turns things quite sweet. The other components of the beer (yeast, malt, hops) contribute virtually nothing. After a short burst of carbonation there's little left but a stale, damp grain taste.

I last reviewed Sam Adams Cherry Wheat ten years ago. It is remarkable the similarity in my tasting notes and overall impressions. I'll give the brewery full credit for consistency though, as you can see, I'm not willing to grant points for much else. It may lack the eye-catching appearance but, make no mistake, this one of those purely cosmetic fruit beers.

I'm generally fine with most of the Sam Adams products, especially those that are a little out of the ordinary i.e. imperial pilsner. However, their Cherry Wheat misses the mark. The look is fine - nice, golden color with a nice white head that leaves some lacing. The smell is not so great - maraschino cherry syrup; very sweet and cloying. The taste is not so cloying, but still nothing good - too sweet when there should be some tartness. Mouthfeel is like soda bordering on harsh. Yeah, this isn't my cup of tea, but I could see people enjoying this one. It's like beer, but not. Recommendation to avoid.

It poured a golden color with a very slight pink tinge. Lots of head that was very aromatic- no mistaking the cherry in this one. Taste was almost like watered-down cherry Kool-Aid, but the wheatiness saved it from tasting flat. Light mouthfeel that still feels like it needs to be savored due to the fruity tones. Very drinkable and goes down easy. No hoppy aftertaste and very refreshing. This would be fantastic for a summer beer or for trying to get fruity cocktail-loving friends into beer.

A: Clear golden color on the pour with a reasonable soapy white head of about 3/4" that dissipated pretty quickly. Lacing was pretty good, if a little light.

S: I'm sure some would ding this brew for the smell but I kinda liked it. There is a distinct aroma of maraschino cherries sitting on a light bit of malt. Yeah, sort of foo-foo but I liked it.

T&M: The initial hit is a culmination of cherries and malts that wash over the tongue with the aromas really helping to bring that cherry character to life. The whole thing is relatively light in the mouth with a fairly bubbly carbonation. The finish has that classic wheat aftertaste that fades relatively quickly, ending in a somewhat watery end with the slightest bitterness.

D: When taking a long pull, the texture is almost creamy and rather enjoyable but the cherry sort of wears on me after a while. If you like the fruit, this isn't bad, well, it isn't bad anyway, but I guess I'm just not into the fruit unless it's a lambic.